2025-10-17 12:53

MOSCOW, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The financial situation at Russia's largest natural gas producer Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab is stable, Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller told Russian state TV on Friday. Gazprom incurred a loss of around $7 billion in 2023, its first since 1999, following a plunge in sales to Europe. Sign up here. Russian gas now accounts for just 18% of European imports, down from 45% in 2021, while the region's oil imports from Russia have fallen to 3% from around 30% over that time. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/finances-russias-gazprom-are-stable-ceo-says-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 12:52

US-China trade meeting set for next week in Malaysia, Bessent says Trump says he will meet Xi in South Korea WTO chief calling for US, China to ease tensions WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday he expects to meet next week with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia to try to forestall an escalation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that President Donald Trump said was unsustainable. Bessent made the announcement during a White House cabinet meeting and later confirmed plans for a meeting after a call with He on Friday evening. Bessent said on X the two officials "engaged in frank and detailed discussions regarding trade between the United States and China." Sign up here. "We will meet in-person next week to continue our discussions," Bessent wrote. China state news agency Xinhua reported that He and Bessent had "candid, in-depth, and constructive discussions on major issues in bilateral economic and trade relations" in a video call, and agreed to a new round of trade talks as soon as possible. The two officials previously met in four European cities over six months to hammer out a tariff truce that brought duties down from triple-digit levels for each country. That agreement expires on November 10. A meeting in Malaysia would shift the venue to a Southeast Asian exporter that trades heavily with both China and the U.S. and whose goods are now subject to a 19% duty imposed by Trump. Malaysia also faces a threatened 100% U.S. tariff on its semiconductors and derivative electronics devices under a national security trade review. Trump earlier on Friday blamed Beijing for the latest impasse, a dispute over China's sweeping new export restrictions on rare-earth minerals and magnets. He has threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports starting on November 1 unless Beijing scraps the restrictions. Asked whether such a high tariff was sustainable and what that might do to the U.S. economy, Trump replied: "It's not sustainable, but that's what the number is." "They forced me to do that," he said in an interview with Fox Business Network that was broadcast on Friday. Trump also has threatened to impose new U.S. export controls that would halt supplies of "any and all critical software." The new trade actions were Trump's reaction to China dramatically expanding its export controls on rare-earth elements. China dominates the market for such elements, which are essential to tech manufacturing. Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday blasted the restrictions as a threat to global supply chains. Trump also confirmed he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in two weeks in South Korea and expressed admiration for the Chinese leader. "I think we're going to be fine with China, but we have to have a fair deal. It's got to be fair," Trump said on FBN's "Mornings with Maria," which was taped on Thursday. Later, as he was preparing to have lunch at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss efforts to end its war with Russia, Trump said: "China wants to talk, and we like talking to China." The softening in tone and affirmation of his intent to meet with Xi helped stem Wall Street's early losses on Friday. Major U.S. stock indexes, which have been rattled over the last week by Trump's abrupt re-imposition of steep levies on Chinese imports and by credit worries among regional banks, were up in afternoon trading. WTO URGES DE-ESCALATION OF TRADE SPATS The head of the World Trade Organization urged the U.S. and China to de-escalate trade tensions, warning that a decoupling by the world's two largest economies could reduce global economic output by 7% over the longer term. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters in an interview the global trade body was extremely concerned about the latest spike in U.S.-China trade tensions and had spoken with officials from both countries to encourage more dialogue. But tensions continued to run high, even as Trump and Xi prepared to meet. Bessent took aim at China's state-driven economic practices in a statement to the IMF's steering committee on Friday, urging the IMF and World Bank to take a tougher stance on China's external and internal imbalances and industrial policies that U.S. officials say have helped China build up excess manufacturing capacity that is flooding the world with cheap goods. And China's Commerce Ministry on Friday accused the U.S. of undermining the rules-based multilateral trading system since the Trump administration took office in 2025, vowing to intensify its use of dispute settlement actions at the WTO. It also urged the U.S. to roll back measures that breach non-discrimination rules and align its industrial and security policies with WTO obligations. Bessent earlier in the week had accused one of He's top aides of being "unhinged" in recent interactions with U.S. trade negotiators. China said on Friday that Bessent's remarks "seriously distort the facts." https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-says-100-tariffs-china-not-sustainable-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 12:35

MUMBAI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - India's gold reserves crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time, according to the Reserve Bank of India's latest foreign exchange reserves data, buoyed by a global price rally even as the central bank's purchases slowed sharply this year. India's gold holdings rose by $3.595 billion to $102.365 billion in the week through October 10, RBI data showed on Friday, while overall foreign exchange reserves declined $2.18 billion to $697.784 billion. Sign up here. The share of gold in India's total reserves climbed to 14.7%, the highest since 1996-97, according to traders. Gold's share in India's foreign exchange reserves has almost doubled over the past decade — from below 7% to nearly 15% — reflecting both steady central bank accumulation and a surge in global bullion prices. That's led to the $100 billion milestone being hit despite a marked slowdown in the RBI's gold purchases this year. The central bank bought gold in only four of the first nine months of 2025, compared with near-monthly additions in 2024, according to World Gold Council data. Cumulative buying from January to September stood at just 4 tons, sharply lower than 50 tons in the same period a year earlier. The share of gold in India's foreign exchange reserves has increased significantly, largely driven by valuation gains from the rising gold price, said Kavita Chacko, research head for India at the World Gold Council. Gold has surged about 65% in 2025, powered by a potent mix of macroeconomic, institutional and psychological drivers. Global central banks continue to accumulate gold as part of reserve diversification away from the U.S. dollar — a trend spurred by heightened geopolitical risks, sanctions pressures and de-dollarisation. India is the world's second-largest consumer of gold and relies on imports to meet demand. Buying gold is deeply rooted in Indian culture, driven by tradition and its role as both an investment and a status symbol. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-central-banks-gold-pile-tops-100-billion-surging-bullion-prices-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 12:34

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Multiple units were offline at BP's (BP.L) , opens new tab 440,000 barrel-per-day Whiting oil refinery in Indiana, the largest in the U.S. Midwest region, two market sources on Friday said, citing data from Wood Mackenzie. The refinery was actively flaring early on Friday, one of the sources said, citing a Wood Mackenzie camera feed of the plant. Sign up here. BP and Wood Mackenzie did not immediately respond to requests for comment. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/multiple-units-offline-bps-whiting-refinery-sources-say-citing-data-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 12:33

China and India's seaborne Russian oil imports expected to rebound to about 3.1 million bpd in October India's Russian oil imports likely to decline from Dec; sources say Japan unlikely to halt Russian LNG imports NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE/TOKYO Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. and European pressure on Asian buyers of Russian energy could restrict India's oil imports from December, leading to cheaper supplies for China, while Japan is unlikely to halt its Sakhalin liquefied natural gas shipments for now, trade sources and analysts said. Washington is exerting pressure on China, India and Japan through trade talks to reduce their purchases of Russian oil and LNG, while Britain has just imposed sanctions on Chinese and Indian entities. More sanctions from the European Union could follow. Western nations say Moscow is using its energy revenues to fund the Ukraine war. Sign up here. The moves come after Russia ramped up crude exports this month as Ukrainian drone attacks on its refineries have reduced oil processing. China and India's seaborne imports of key Russian crude grades are expected to rebound to about 3.1 million barrels per day in October, the highest volume since June, data from analytics firm Kpler showed. These imports are expected to remain high through November given the sharp rise in exports from Russia, Kpler's senior oil analyst Muyu Xu said. "However, the sudden UK sanctions on Chinese and Indian refineries — and the possibility of more measures from the EU or even the U.S. — could prompt buyers to take a more cautious approach when placing new orders until further clarification emerges," she added. INDIA CUTS NOT YET VISIBLE A White House official said on Thursday that Indian refiners are already cutting Russian oil imports by 50%. Indian sources said the cut was not visible yet, though it could be reflected in import numbers for December or January. Refiners had already placed orders for November loading that included some cargoes for December arrival as well, multiple sources said. "We do not think India can stop Russian crude purchases overnight, even if it has agreed to do so, as at least 700,000 bpd of India imports of Russian crude are on a term basis," consultancy FGE said in a note. "Therefore, the maximum volume of Russian crude flows to India we see as potentially being at risk in the short term is the 0.8-1 million bpd of spot volumes that Indian refiners take," FGE analysts said. China could pick up some of the volumes backed out of India as Russian crude discounts will widen further, they added. Meanwhile, Indian refiners have bought rare Guyanese crude as they diversify purchases that would mitigate the impact on their operations if Russian supply was cut. SANCTIONS ON NAYARA, YULONG Britain slapped sanctions on India's Nayara refinery, which is already reeling from EU sanctions, and on Chinese refiner Yulong Petrochemical which operates a 400,000 barrels per day refinery in China's eastern Shandong province. The UK government has given Yulong until November 13 to complete outstanding transactions, allowing the refiner to handle its upcoming Middle Eastern imports, Kpler's Xu said. It's unclear if Yulong can establish a new supply chain to circumvent the sanctions, she added. "The move has undoubtedly sounded an alarm for other Russian oil buyers who may have previously overlooked sanctions from non-U.S. authorities," Xu said. June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities, said the UK sanctions are unlikely to significantly impact Yulong, but the refiner will find it hard to maintain operations if the EU and the U.S. follow suit. Meanwhile, Taiwan's Russian naphtha imports are set to fall after a group of non-governmental organisations criticised the island's continued business with Russia. However, Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, as well as a partial ban imposed by Moscow on Russian exports of gasoline and diesel, have already been capping Russian refined product shipments, traders said. JAPAN LNG IMPORTS The U.S. has also called on Japan to halt Russian energy imports, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's expected visit to Asia later this month. Tokyo has agreed with other G7 countries to phase out Russian oil imports in response to Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but it has exemptions to continue importing LNG from the Sakhalin-2 project under long-term contracts. An early termination of these contracts would result in various penalties, said Yuriy Humber, CEO of Tokyo-based consultancy Yuri Group. Also, securing an additional 6 million metric tons of LNG annually on the spot market to replace Russian supply would not be easy and is "massively expensive", he said. Russian LNG, which accounts for about 9% of Japanese imports, is an important stable supply source for Japan, Kingo Hayashi, chairman of Japan's Federation of Electric Power Companies, told reporters on Friday, adding that Japanese utilities want to continue using it. Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a researcher at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, said the U.S. needs to have a consistent and coherent policy on Russian LNG. "On the one side, they are pressuring their allies to stop importing Russian gas or LNG. But they are not implementing their own sanctions on Arctic LNG 2," she said, referring to Russia's large-scale LNG project in northern Siberia which is still delivering LNG to China despite being under U.S. sanctions. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/western-pressure-hit-asian-buying-russian-oil-december-sources-say-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 12:01

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Bank of England will make changes to explain in more detail its decisions on interest rates and other monetary policy issues from next month, BoE Chief Economist Huw Pill said on Friday. The BoE was taking concrete steps in response to a review of how its forecasting should adapt to greater uncertainty in the world economy and its communication processes published last year by former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, Pill said. Sign up here. As a result, the Monetary Policy Committee will seek to explain the wider range of inputs used in its discussions via the increased use of explanatory boxes and a new section on risks and scenarios in its quarterly Monetary Policy Report. In another change, the minutes of MPC meetings will give space for each of its nine member to explain their own policy views, Pill said. "For sure, our progress thus far is not the final word," he said in a speech to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. "And as circumstances change and new challenges emerge – as they inevitably will – additions will be made to an already long 'to do' list." The BoE, like other central banks, came under heavy criticism of its forecasting and communications strategy when inflation peaked above 10% in 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine which sent energy prices in Europe soaring. The BoE's next monetary policy announcement is due on November 6 when it is widely expected to keep rates on hold as it awaits further clarity on the persistence of inflation pressures in the economy. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/bank-england-explain-rates-decisions-more-detail-november-2025-10-17/